Aaaaand another follow-up of Keeping Balance, at the request of Zyenna

Disclaimed again

...

Losing Balance

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Jack allowed the wind to drop him carefully through the open window of the Workshop's Globe Room. He had intended to land on the Globe itself and then bounce off that to the floor. Which was more or less how it went, except instead of bouncing it was more like slipping, and instead of landing nimbly on the floor he fell through the gap and plummeted to the level below. Luckily, his fall was broken by one of the workstations. Unluckily, it was a work station for plastic toy robots.

Jack groaned as the pain from the impact registered and the pile of plastic beneath him dug into his chest sharply. For a few very long moments he couldn't even bring himself to peel his face off the bench. He was vaguely aware of yetis crying out around him – whether in annoyance or concern, Jack didn't know – but it was hard to hear anything through the headache pounding at his skull.

"Jack!"

Jack suddenly found himself hauled up from where he was sprawled. His vision swam with the movement and he slammed his eyes shut to stave off a rising bought of nausea.

"Jack, are you alright?"

Jack blinked a few times as his vision slowly returned to focus. North was towering over him, his grip on his arm the only thing stopping Jack from sliding down to the floor. Man, he was dizzy. "Hi, North."

"Are you alright?" North repeated.

"Ah, yeah," Jack pulled himself free, leaning heavily on the workbench, and rubbed his forehead. "Just slipped."

North, if anything, seemed even more surprised than before. "Slipped?" he parroted.

"Yeah, off the Globe."

"You slipped off the Globe?"

Had he not just said that? Maybe he was mumbling. "Um, listen," he began, deciding to change the subject, "I was just dropping in to..." Hmm. Why had he decided to come to the Workshop? He was sure there had been a reason when he'd set off, but it was eluding him now.

Belatedly, he realised North was staring at him in concern. "Are you sure you are alright?"

Jack's headache panged, reminding him that the answer to that question was probably closer to 'no'. "Just a headache," he reassured nonetheless. Said headache was more likely to be a slight concussion but North didn't need to know that. "I hit my head."

North crossed his arms and scowled, but he didn't look angry. "You must have hit it very hard."

"Yeah. I let my guard down," Jack confessed. He certainly wouldn't be doing that again.

North's frown shifted into mild surprise and his arms dropped. "You were attacked?"

"Sorta? I instigated it this time."

North looked like he had more to say, but was uncertain how to go about it. Eventually, he settled on, "Come, we take you to sick bay and you can tell me from beginning."

Before Jack could say anything in protest, a large hand was pressed to his back and he found himself being herded towards the elevator. It honestly wasn't necessary – he could just sleep it off – but he'd learned the hard way that there was no arguing with North when he had his mind set on something.

It wasn't until Jack was sitting on the edge of a bed with a yeti in a nurse's hat fussing over him that North prompted for a better explanation.

"Now, Jack, tell me what happened."

"Ah, just Lamia up to her old tricks again," Jack shrugged. It really wasn't a big deal. And after each time he soundly beat her she usually laid low for a year or so before trying any child-eating again. Though maybe that was just because that was how long it took the ice to melt. Who knows? "I wasn't paying attention to her tail and she whacked me into a rock."

North seemed startled by the confession. "Lamia?!"

"Yeah, you know, the half-woman half-snake lady? Likes to eat kids?"

"Yes, I know of Lamia. But we had thought her no longer a problem to the children!"

Jack raised a brow, gratefully accepting the ice pack handed to him by the nurse yeti. "Why would you think that?"

"She has not surfaced for many years, my friend."

This only made Jack more confused. "She's been going after kids for as long as I've known of her," he countered. "Longer, even. I just freeze her solid and when she thaws out I do it again."

North looked thoughtful. "This would explain our ignorance. You have been upholding duties of Guardianship before Manny even brought you to us!" he beamed. "Now that we know, though, you do not need to fight her by yourself. Your fellow Guardians would be happy to assist, and perhaps we can find a more permanent solution to dealing with her, no?"

Jack, desperately wanting to just go and curl up outside in the snow, didn't bother pointing out that he'd been doing fine for over a century and didn't really need the assistance, instead nodding in agreement. It seemed to satisfy North, though, and when Jack was finally released by the nurse the older spirit escorted him to his room, where Jack was pleased to find the window had been left open and a considerable pile-up of snow was waiting for him.